November 14, 2022 • 16 mins
Pay attention to those around you. They may not be themselves...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
When you really stop to think about it,
there are just so many reasonsto be afraid.
Ghosts. Demons.
Ghouls. Golems.
Dainis. Rokkhosh.
Khokkhosh.
Sankachurnis. Jinn.
The list goes on and on.
(00:25):
In this episode, we'll give you onemore reason to be afraid to go to sleep
tonight.
So put on your headphones and settle in
as we take you on a journeyinto the paranormal...
...where there’s only one question
that matters (00:41):
Are
we scared yet?
The yearit was decided that my brother was old
enough to be married, in 1923,
I was a teenager.
(01:02):
As a second son,I tended to spend most of my time
writing poetry and idly observing
the world around me while my brother worethe mantle of learning
to manage the householdand the family businesses.
My father was the village chairman
and so my brother couldn't marryjust any girl.
(01:24):
Her family would need to havethe same social standing as ours.
And so word was sent out
to find a suitable bride for my brother.
Matchmakers flocked with proposals
from near and far,but none pleased my mother.
Only the most beautiful bride
(01:45):
would do for her first born son.
After some time, word camethat there was a potential match
in a villagelocated down the old forest road.
It was saidthat she not only had the looks,
but was also extremely talented.
(02:06):
She knew how to cookand how to make the most
gorgeous blankets.
A party was sent
and they returned, confirmingthat the maiden was truly stunning
and her family ready for herto meet a husband.
And so after much preparation,
we set out to meet this bride.
(02:30):
It took almost half a dayto reach the village in our cow carriages.
And by the time we arrived,it was late in the evening.
We were welcomed with sweets and food.
There was music and the young villagegirls danced in a style I'd never seen.
After
meeting the village elders and exchanginggifts,
(02:51):
we finally got to meet her.
The descriptions did her no justice.
She was tall, graceful, with hair
that was as dark as it was thick.
As soon as she steppedout of the front door,
my brother could not keep his eyes offof her.
(03:14):
Seeing this, my parents were pleased.
It was clear,by the way she stared right back at him,
that his attraction was mutually returned.
Without any delay,my parents and hers agreed
that they should marrythe following morning.
(03:35):
The wedding ceremony commencedwith the sunrise, and the festivities
lasted until late in the afternoon.
It was decided hastily on the spot
that we should returnwith her to our village,
along with her family,so that we could reciprocate
by hosting an equally lavishcelebration the following day.
(03:58):
So as the sun was
arcing toward the horizon,we began the journey home
with my brand new sister-in-lawand her family.
After traveling for a few hours,
a thick layer of clouds obscured the moon
and the dimming evening skyand a heavy blanket of fog rolled
(04:19):
in, further darkening the road that led to
our village.
Father sent scouts ahead to see
if there was anywhere to hunker downwhile the mists passed
and they returned quickly,shouting that a mandir, a temple, right up
the road, had a large enoughclearing for our entire party.
(04:42):
He was visibly relievedwhen we approached the clearing
and it was decidedthat we would wait in place
until the fog and cloudsreceded to continue.
Father told me
it would have been dangerous to walkthe animals with such limited visibility
when I challenged the wisdom of waitingin this
(05:04):
unsettling place.
Shortly after we stopped, a fire was lit
and the servants from both our villagesbegan to play music together,
laughing as they shared new arrangementsof traditional songs.
That, at least, helps to ease
(05:25):
the tensionthat had begun to wind itself up
between my shoulder blades.
Most in the party took the chance to rest
and use the facilities outbehind the temple.
I walked around curious,
studying our surroundings.
It was as old a mandir as I'd ever seen.
(05:48):
Directly over the outhouse behindthe structure was a massive banyan tree
that seemed to be swallowing uppart of the building.
And I had this feelinglike it was watching me, hoping I'd sit in
the outhouse long enough to give the thinga chance to swallow me up, too.
(06:10):
The thought made my hair stand on end.
I saw my sister-in-law and my mothertalking closely from across the fire
when I approached it to hear the musica little better.
Sister seemed to be sad and
my mother sent her off to the outhouseto clean herself up.
(06:31):
After she returned, she just walked right
straight to the edge of the fire,reached out her hands,
shivered,
and stared into the flames
with a blank expression.
(06:52):
When at last
the clouds began to thinand the fog rolled away,
it was decidedthat we would continue our journey home.
We traveled the rest of the night
and got home at the crack of dawn.
Despite the fatigue of our unexpectedlyextended journey,
everyone cleaned up quickly and as ifthey hadn't just been traveling all night,
(07:15):
enthusiastically doveinto another day of celebrations.
There was
eating, drinking musicand dancing that continued
until well after the sun had crested
the horizon.
The next morning, our entire village
came to meet the new bride
(07:38):
to have a cup of tea made by her.
My sister-in-law set herselfto work in our outdoor woodfire kitchen.
Sometime later
my mother asked me to go check on herand see if she needed any help.
So I went to go see how she was doing.
And as I was about to enter the kitchen,
(08:00):
I saw her sitting in front of the stove.
She was so close to the firethat I was about to warn her to step back
when I saw that her leg
was in the burning stoveas if it was just another log.
She didn't even seem to notice,
and neither her skinnor her clothing was burningm,
(08:22):
even though I could clearly see that it
was fully engulfed in flames.
I stopped in my tracks,
turned around and ranright back to mother.
I almost fell as I burstthrough the doorway.
She askedwhat happened and said it looked like
I'd seen a ghost.
(08:45):
I sputtered incredulously.
But before I could catch my breathand begin to speak coherently,
sister-in-law entered with the tea.
I don't know how she got there so fast.
I'd been running at full speedand I was one of the fastest runners
in our villageand I wasn't carrying a pot of hot tea.
(09:08):
She gave me a smile that made goosebumps
rise across my back and both of my arms.
Later that afternoon,
while my sister-in-law was applying oilto my mother's hair
on our front porch as they talked,mother asked to have her hair braided,
(09:29):
which required combing.
The comb was sitting on the other sideof the porch,
about three meters awayfrom where the two were sitting.
Sister reached out for the comb
and my mother screamed.
That's when I saw it.
As she stressed out her arm.
(09:49):
It extended much further than was natural,and she picked up
the faraway comb with ease.
All the servants came runningas the mother yelled
and screamed, backing away from the porch.
She pointed at sister-in-law
and named her Sankachurnis.
She denounced the woman as a witchthat lurks in the jungle and captures
(10:14):
newly married women to relive her daysas a young wife.
Sister-in-law, or should I say the thing
that was disguised as sister-in-lawcowered against the house.
She looked like a cornered animal.
As the servants approached hercarefully from all sides, she fought.
(10:34):
It took ten of the village'sstrongest men to subdue her.
The servants held on to her,
lashing her limbs tight until the struggle
was fought out of her.
At that point, a baba was called.
The religious figurecame and initiated a mantra.
(10:54):
He burned sage as he chantedone prayer after another.
With each new prayer,the creature resembled my sister-in-law
just a little less.
She screamed in agony.
She shouted through a stream of tearsthat all she wanted
was to be a woman again,to be a wife, to have a normal life.
(11:17):
Please, she begged.
Please.
Her anguish, to me,
it was excruciating.
But the baba was unaffected by her pleas.
Emotionless, he kept reciting his mantras,interrupting the flow
only to ask the entity who she was,
(11:40):
where she came from,and where was sister-in-law?
The creature
screamed and screamed,but would not give an answer.
After hours of this,
a babafrom a nearby village arrived to help
and he proclaimed that the only wayto reverse what this which had done
(12:01):
was to find the personthat was mimicking and
bring them face to face.
And so a search party was gatheredto retrace our steps
from the journey homeand find the true bride.
I suggested we search the mandir.
Brother who brookedno nonsense at any time,
(12:21):
and who was especially resolutein this hour, looked to me
with a hard stare for a long momentbefore giving a tight nod of assent.
It seemed that I wasn't the only onewho got a strange vibe from that place.
After all, 2 hours
of harddriving later, we reached the Mandir.
(12:43):
We searched the grounds
extensively,but there was no trace of her.
Just as we were about to give up
and split into two parties, oneto search the road
back to our village, another to searchin the opposite direction.
I felt the hair riseup on the back of my neck again.
(13:04):
I shuddered and turned around just in time
to see somethingcolorful fluttering in the crook
of the banyan tree.
I didn't believe my eyes at first,but sure enough,
I recognizedthe lace of my sister-in-law's veil,
and I was shocked to see it therebecause there was no way she could have
(13:26):
climbed several meters to reach that spotin the tree in the dark.
I showed my brotherand he seemed to melt from relief
before ordering the servantsto build a rope ladder
that we could use to climband lower her safely to the ground.
We rode back without delay,and it wasn't until we reached
(13:49):
the edge of the villagethat my sister-in-law began to stir.
With the arrival of the girl,
the Sankachurnis screamed an agonizing cry
before seeming to implode
right there on the spot.
It was horrible to watch,
(14:12):
but within seconds
it was as if she had just vanished.
Like she was never even there at all.
There was a thunderous crachas a branch of the tamarind
tree at the edge of the villagesnapped off.
It fell as if to block the path
(14:34):
leading back toward the mandir.
With a deep breath and a sigh,the barbas confirmed that the Sankachurnis
was gone for goodand that sister-in-law was indeed safe
from the witch's curse.
My brother
and she lived a long, happy, married life
(14:56):
with their three children,and I'm happy for them.
But I wonder whathappened to the Sankachurnis.
Every time I
eat a tamarind, I remember herand I feel sad
thinking about how all she wanted
was a family of her own.
And I wonder
(15:18):
if she'll ever get it.
Hey, folks,thanks for listening to our third episode.
We hope you got the chills.
(15:39):
This show is the brainchildof my wife, Shanima,
and it sure a fun way for meto work on my voice acting skills.
So if you like what you're hearing,let us know.
You can find us on Instagram.
And of course, we would appreciate itif you would take a moment to like
and subscribeon YouTube, follow and rate us
(15:59):
wherever you get your podcasts,etc., etc..
But, you know, whatever you do,
do yourself a favor
and stay scared.
When you really stop to think about it,
there are just so many reasonsto be afraid.
Ghosts. Demons.
Ghouls. Golems.
Dainis. Rokkhosh.
Khokkhosh.
Sankachurnis. Jinn.
The list goes on and on.
(00:25):
In this episode, we'll give you onemore reason to be afraid to go to sleep
tonight.
So put on your headphones and settle in
as we take you on a journeyinto the paranormal...
...where there’s only one question
that matters (00:41):
Are
we scared yet?
The yearit was decided that my brother was old
enough to be married, in 1923,
I was a teenager.
(01:02):
As a second son,I tended to spend most of my time
writing poetry and idly observing
the world around me while my brother worethe mantle of learning
to manage the householdand the family businesses.
My father was the village chairman
and so my brother couldn't marryjust any girl.
(01:24):
Her family would need to havethe same social standing as ours.
And so word was sent out
to find a suitable bride for my brother.
Matchmakers flocked with proposals
from near and far,but none pleased my mother.
Only the most beautiful bride
(01:45):
would do for her first born son.
After some time, word camethat there was a potential match
in a villagelocated down the old forest road.
It was saidthat she not only had the looks,
but was also extremely talented.
(02:06):
She knew how to cookand how to make the most
gorgeous blankets.
A party was sent
and they returned, confirmingthat the maiden was truly stunning
and her family ready for herto meet a husband.
And so after much preparation,
we set out to meet this bride.
(02:30):
It took almost half a dayto reach the village in our cow carriages.
And by the time we arrived,it was late in the evening.
We were welcomed with sweets and food.
There was music and the young villagegirls danced in a style I'd never seen.
After
meeting the village elders and exchanginggifts,
(02:51):
we finally got to meet her.
The descriptions did her no justice.
She was tall, graceful, with hair
that was as dark as it was thick.
As soon as she steppedout of the front door,
my brother could not keep his eyes offof her.
(03:14):
Seeing this, my parents were pleased.
It was clear,by the way she stared right back at him,
that his attraction was mutually returned.
Without any delay,my parents and hers agreed
that they should marrythe following morning.
(03:35):
The wedding ceremony commencedwith the sunrise, and the festivities
lasted until late in the afternoon.
It was decided hastily on the spot
that we should returnwith her to our village,
along with her family,so that we could reciprocate
by hosting an equally lavishcelebration the following day.
(03:58):
So as the sun was
arcing toward the horizon,we began the journey home
with my brand new sister-in-lawand her family.
After traveling for a few hours,
a thick layer of clouds obscured the moon
and the dimming evening skyand a heavy blanket of fog rolled
(04:19):
in, further darkening the road that led to
our village.
Father sent scouts ahead to see
if there was anywhere to hunker downwhile the mists passed
and they returned quickly,shouting that a mandir, a temple, right up
the road, had a large enoughclearing for our entire party.
(04:42):
He was visibly relievedwhen we approached the clearing
and it was decidedthat we would wait in place
until the fog and cloudsreceded to continue.
Father told me
it would have been dangerous to walkthe animals with such limited visibility
when I challenged the wisdom of waitingin this
(05:04):
unsettling place.
Shortly after we stopped, a fire was lit
and the servants from both our villagesbegan to play music together,
laughing as they shared new arrangementsof traditional songs.
That, at least, helps to ease
(05:25):
the tensionthat had begun to wind itself up
between my shoulder blades.
Most in the party took the chance to rest
and use the facilities outbehind the temple.
I walked around curious,
studying our surroundings.
It was as old a mandir as I'd ever seen.
(05:48):
Directly over the outhouse behindthe structure was a massive banyan tree
that seemed to be swallowing uppart of the building.
And I had this feelinglike it was watching me, hoping I'd sit in
the outhouse long enough to give the thinga chance to swallow me up, too.
(06:10):
The thought made my hair stand on end.
I saw my sister-in-law and my mothertalking closely from across the fire
when I approached it to hear the musica little better.
Sister seemed to be sad and
my mother sent her off to the outhouseto clean herself up.
(06:31):
After she returned, she just walked right
straight to the edge of the fire,reached out her hands,
shivered,
and stared into the flames
with a blank expression.
(06:52):
When at last
the clouds began to thinand the fog rolled away,
it was decidedthat we would continue our journey home.
We traveled the rest of the night
and got home at the crack of dawn.
Despite the fatigue of our unexpectedlyextended journey,
everyone cleaned up quickly and as ifthey hadn't just been traveling all night,
(07:15):
enthusiastically doveinto another day of celebrations.
There was
eating, drinking musicand dancing that continued
until well after the sun had crested
the horizon.
The next morning, our entire village
came to meet the new bride
(07:38):
to have a cup of tea made by her.
My sister-in-law set herselfto work in our outdoor woodfire kitchen.
Sometime later
my mother asked me to go check on herand see if she needed any help.
So I went to go see how she was doing.
And as I was about to enter the kitchen,
(08:00):
I saw her sitting in front of the stove.
She was so close to the firethat I was about to warn her to step back
when I saw that her leg
was in the burning stoveas if it was just another log.
She didn't even seem to notice,
and neither her skinnor her clothing was burningm,
(08:22):
even though I could clearly see that it
was fully engulfed in flames.
I stopped in my tracks,
turned around and ranright back to mother.
I almost fell as I burstthrough the doorway.
She askedwhat happened and said it looked like
I'd seen a ghost.
(08:45):
I sputtered incredulously.
But before I could catch my breathand begin to speak coherently,
sister-in-law entered with the tea.
I don't know how she got there so fast.
I'd been running at full speedand I was one of the fastest runners
in our villageand I wasn't carrying a pot of hot tea.
(09:08):
She gave me a smile that made goosebumps
rise across my back and both of my arms.
Later that afternoon,
while my sister-in-law was applying oilto my mother's hair
on our front porch as they talked,mother asked to have her hair braided,
(09:29):
which required combing.
The comb was sitting on the other sideof the porch,
about three meters awayfrom where the two were sitting.
Sister reached out for the comb
and my mother screamed.
That's when I saw it.
As she stressed out her arm.
(09:49):
It extended much further than was natural,and she picked up
the faraway comb with ease.
All the servants came runningas the mother yelled
and screamed, backing away from the porch.
She pointed at sister-in-law
and named her Sankachurnis.
She denounced the woman as a witchthat lurks in the jungle and captures
(10:14):
newly married women to relive her daysas a young wife.
Sister-in-law, or should I say the thing
that was disguised as sister-in-lawcowered against the house.
She looked like a cornered animal.
As the servants approached hercarefully from all sides, she fought.
(10:34):
It took ten of the village'sstrongest men to subdue her.
The servants held on to her,
lashing her limbs tight until the struggle
was fought out of her.
At that point, a baba was called.
The religious figurecame and initiated a mantra.
(10:54):
He burned sage as he chantedone prayer after another.
With each new prayer,the creature resembled my sister-in-law
just a little less.
She screamed in agony.
She shouted through a stream of tearsthat all she wanted
was to be a woman again,to be a wife, to have a normal life.
(11:17):
Please, she begged.
Please.
Her anguish, to me,
it was excruciating.
But the baba was unaffected by her pleas.
Emotionless, he kept reciting his mantras,interrupting the flow
only to ask the entity who she was,
(11:40):
where she came from,and where was sister-in-law?
The creature
screamed and screamed,but would not give an answer.
After hours of this,
a babafrom a nearby village arrived to help
and he proclaimed that the only wayto reverse what this which had done
(12:01):
was to find the personthat was mimicking and
bring them face to face.
And so a search party was gatheredto retrace our steps
from the journey homeand find the true bride.
I suggested we search the mandir.
Brother who brookedno nonsense at any time,
(12:21):
and who was especially resolutein this hour, looked to me
with a hard stare for a long momentbefore giving a tight nod of assent.
It seemed that I wasn't the only onewho got a strange vibe from that place.
After all, 2 hours
of harddriving later, we reached the Mandir.
(12:43):
We searched the grounds
extensively,but there was no trace of her.
Just as we were about to give up
and split into two parties, oneto search the road
back to our village, another to searchin the opposite direction.
I felt the hair riseup on the back of my neck again.
(13:04):
I shuddered and turned around just in time
to see somethingcolorful fluttering in the crook
of the banyan tree.
I didn't believe my eyes at first,but sure enough,
I recognizedthe lace of my sister-in-law's veil,
and I was shocked to see it therebecause there was no way she could have
(13:26):
climbed several meters to reach that spotin the tree in the dark.
I showed my brotherand he seemed to melt from relief
before ordering the servantsto build a rope ladder
that we could use to climband lower her safely to the ground.
We rode back without delay,and it wasn't until we reached
(13:49):
the edge of the villagethat my sister-in-law began to stir.
With the arrival of the girl,
the Sankachurnis screamed an agonizing cry
before seeming to implode
right there on the spot.
It was horrible to watch,
(14:12):
but within seconds
it was as if she had just vanished.
Like she was never even there at all.
There was a thunderous crachas a branch of the tamarind
tree at the edge of the villagesnapped off.
It fell as if to block the path
(14:34):
leading back toward the mandir.
With a deep breath and a sigh,the barbas confirmed that the Sankachurnis
was gone for goodand that sister-in-law was indeed safe
from the witch's curse.
My brother
and she lived a long, happy, married life
(14:56):
with their three children,and I'm happy for them.
But I wonder whathappened to the Sankachurnis.
Every time I
eat a tamarind, I remember herand I feel sad
thinking about how all she wanted
was a family of her own.
And I wonder
(15:18):
if she'll ever get it.
Hey, folks,thanks for listening to our third episode.
We hope you got the chills.
(15:39):
This show is the brainchildof my wife, Shanima,
and it sure a fun way for meto work on my voice acting skills.
So if you like what you're hearing,let us know.
You can find us on Instagram.
And of course, we would appreciate itif you would take a moment to like
and subscribeon YouTube, follow and rate us
(15:59):
wherever you get your podcasts,etc., etc..
But, you know, whatever you do,
do yourself a favor
and stay scared.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.